Resonator circuit using an inverter to adjust anti-resonance frequency

ABSTRACT

Networks and filters are disclosed. A network includes a resonator that exhibits both a resonance and an anti-resonance and an inverter circuit connected in parallel with the resonator to form a composite resonator. An anti-resonant frequency of the composite resonator is different from the resonator&#39;s anti-resonant frequency.

RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION

This patent is a continuation of application Ser. No. 16/700,158, filedDec. 2, 2019 entitled RESONATOR CIRCUIT USING AN INVERTER TO ADJUSTANTI-RESONANCE FREQUENCY which claims priority from the provisionalpatent application 62/773,893, filed Nov. 30, 2018, entitled INVERTERADJUSTMENT OF ANTI-RESONANCE FREQUENCY OF ACOUSTIC RESONATOR.

NOTICE OF COPYRIGHTS AND TRADE DRESS

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. This patent document may showand/or describe matter which is or may become trade dress of the owner.The copyright and trade dress owner has no objection to the facsimilereproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure as it appears in thePatent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwisereserves all copyright and trade dress rights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND Field

This disclosure relates to radio frequency filters using acoustic waveresonators, and specifically to filters for use in communicationsequipment.

Description of the Related Art

A radio frequency (RF) filter is a two-port device configured to passsome frequencies and to stop other frequencies, where “pass” meanstransmit with relatively low insertion loss and “stop” means block orsubstantially attenuate. The range of frequencies passed by a filter isreferred to as the “pass-band” of the filter. The range of frequenciesstopped by such a filter is referred to as the “stop-band” of thefilter. A typical RF filter has at least one pass-band and at least onestop-band. Specific requirements on a pass-band or stop-band depend onthe specific application. For example, a “pass-band” may be defined as afrequency range where the insertion loss of a filter is less than adefined value such as one dB, two dB, or three dB. A “stop-band” may bedefined as a frequency range where the insertion loss of a filter isgreater than a defined value such as twenty dB, twenty-five dB, fortydB, or greater depending on application.

RF filters are used in communications systems where information istransmitted over wireless links. For example, RF filters may be found inthe RF front-ends of base stations, mobile telephone and computingdevices, satellite transceivers and ground stations, IoT (Internet ofThings) devices, laptop computers and tablets, fixed point radio links,and other communications systems. RF filters are also used in radar andelectronic and information warfare systems.

RF filters typically require many design trade-offs to achieve, for eachspecific application, the best compromise between performance parameterssuch as insertion loss, rejection, isolation, power handling, linearity,size and cost. Specific design and manufacturing methods andenhancements can benefit simultaneously one or several of theserequirements.

Performance enhancements to the RF filters in a wireless system can havebroad impact to system performance. Improvements in RF filters can beleveraged to provide system performance improvements such as larger cellsize, longer battery life, higher data rates, greater network capacity,lower cost, enhanced security, higher reliability, less noise, lessdistortion, less interference, etc. These improvements can be realizedat many levels of the wireless system both separately and incombination, for example at the RF module, RF transceiver, mobile orfixed sub-system, or network levels.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a commonly used equivalent circuit of a resonator thatexhibits both a resonance and an anti-resonance.

FIG. 1B is a graph of the admittance of a lossless resonator modeledusing the equivalent circuit of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary band-pass filter circuitincorporating resonators modeled using the equivalent circuit of FIG.1A.

FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram of a two-port network including a singleresonator modeled using the equivalent circuit of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram of a two-port network of a compositeresonator including a resonator modeled using the equivalent circuit ofFIG. 1A and an inverter circuit.

FIG. 4 is a graph of the transmission through the two-port networks ofFIG. 3A, and FIG. 3B.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary band-pass filter circuitincorporating resonators modeled using the equivalent circuit of FIG. 1Aand an inverter circuit.

Throughout this description, elements appearing in figures are assignedthree-digit reference designators, where the two least significantdigits are specific to the element and the one or two most significantdigit is the figure number where the element is first introduced. Anelement that is not described in conjunction with a figure may bepresumed to have the same characteristics and function as apreviously-described element having the same reference designator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Description of Apparatus

Resonators that exhibit both a resonance and an anti-resonance, such asacoustic wave resonators, and more specifically surface acoustic waveresonators (SAWs), bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonators, and film bulkacoustic wave (FBAW) resonators, are commonly used in radio frequencyfilters for communications devices. The admittance between the input andoutput terminals of an acoustic wave resonator is highlyfrequency-dependent. The basic behavior of acoustic wave resonators iscommonly described using the Butterworth Van Dyke (BVD) circuit model asshown in FIG. 1A. The BVD circuit model consists of a motional arm and astatic arm. The motional arm includes a motional inductance L_(m), amotional capacitance C_(m), and a motional resistance R_(m). The staticarm includes a static capacitance C₀ and a static resistance R₀. Whilethe BVD model does not fully describe the behavior of an acousticresonator, it does a good job of modeling the two primary resonancesthat are used to design band-pass filters, duplexers, and multiplexers(multiplexers are filters with more than 2 input or output ports andwith multiple pass-bands).

The first primary resonance of the BVD model is the motional resonancemodeled by the series combination of the motional inductance L_(m), themotional capacitance C_(m) and the motional resistance R_(m). The secondprimary resonance of the BVD model is the anti-resonance modeled by theseries combination of the motional inductance L_(m), the motionalcapacitance C_(m) and the motional resistance R_(m) in parallel with theseries combination of the static capacitance C₀ and the staticresistance R₀. In a lossless resonator (R_(m)=R₀=0), the frequency F_(r)of the motional resonance is given by

$\begin{matrix}{F_{r} = \frac{1}{2\pi\sqrt{L_{m}C_{m}}}} & (1)\end{matrix}$

The frequency F_(a) of the anti-resonance is given by

$\begin{matrix}{F_{a} = {F_{r}\sqrt{1 + \frac{1}{\gamma}}}} & (2)\end{matrix}$

where γ=C₀/C_(m) is a characteristic of the substrate upon which the SAWresonator is fabricated. γ is dependent on both the material and theorientation of the crystalline axes of the substrate, as well as thephysical design of the resonator.

In subsequent figures, each resonator will be represented by the symbol105 and modeled using the equivalent circuit 100.

FIG. 1B is a plot of the magnitude of the admittance of a theoreticallossless (i.e. R₀=Rm=0) acoustic resonator represented by a BVD model.The admittance exhibits a motional resonance 112 where the admittance ofthe resonator approaches infinity, and an anti-resonance 114 where theadmittance of the resonator approaches zero. In over-simplified terms,the lossless acoustic resonator can be considered a short circuit at thefrequency F_(r) of the motional resonance 112 and an open circuit at thefrequency F_(a) of the anti-resonance 114. The frequencies of themotional resonance 112 and the anti-resonance 114 are representative,and a resonator may be designed for other resonant and anti-resonantfrequencies.

FIG. 2 shows a simplified schematic circuit diagram of an exemplaryband-pass filter circuit 200 incorporating six acoustic wave resonators,labeled X1 through X6, arranged in what is commonly called a “ladder”configuration. The filter circuit 200 may be, for example, a transmitfilter or a receive filter for incorporation into a communicationsdevice. The filter circuit 200 includes three series resonators (X2, X4,and X6) connecting a first port (Port 1) and second port (Port 2). Bydefinition, series resonators are connected in series to form anunbroken signal path from the first port to the second port. Either portmay be the input or the output of the filter circuit. The filter circuit200 includes three shunt resonators (X1, X3, and X5). Each shuntresonator is connected between ground and one of a junction of adjacentseries resonators, the input of the filter, and the output of thefilter. The schematic diagram of FIG. 2 is simplified in that passivecomponents, such as the inductances inherent in the conductorsinterconnecting the resonators, are not shown. The use of six acousticwave resonators, three series, and three shunt resonators is exemplary.A band-pass filter circuit may include more than, or fewer than, sixresonators and more than, or fewer than, three series resonators andthree shunt resonators, and need not have a “ladder” configuration.

Each acoustic wave resonator X1 to X6 may be a bulk acoustic wave (BAW)resonator, a film bulk acoustic wave (FBAW) resonator, a surfaceacoustic wave (SAW) resonator, a temperature compensated surfaceacoustic wave resonator (TC-SAW), a transversely-excited film bulkacoustic resonator (XBAR) as described in application Ser. No.16/230,443, a solidly-mounted transversely-excited film bulk acousticresonator (SM-XBAR) as described in application Ser. No. 16/438,141, orsome other type of mechanical or acoustic wave resonator. All of theacoustic wave resonators X1 to X6 are typically, but not necessarily,the same type of resonator.

As shown in FIG. 1B, each acoustic wave resonator X1 to X6 exhibits veryhigh admittance at a resonance frequency and very low admittance at ananti-resonance frequency higher than the resonance frequency. Insimplified terms, each resonator may be considered a short circuit atits resonance frequency and an open circuit at its anti-resonancefrequency. Thus the transmission between Port 1 and Port 2 of theband-pass filter circuit 200 is very low at the resonance frequencies ofthe shunt resonators X1, X3, X5 and the anti-resonance frequencies ofthe series resonators X2, X4, X6. In a typical ladder band-pass filter,the resonance frequencies of shunt resonators are less than a lower edgeof the filter passband to create a stop-band at frequencies below thepassband. The anti-resonance frequencies of shunt resonators typicallyfall within the passband of the filter. Conversely, the anti-resonancefrequencies of series resonators are greater than an upper edge of thepassband to create stop-band at frequencies above the passband. Theresonance frequencies of series resonators typically fall with thepassband of the filter. In some designs, one or more shunt resonatorsmay have resonance frequencies higher than the upper edge of thepassband.

FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram of a two-port network 300 consisting of asingle resonator X1. The resonator X1 may be an acoustic wave resonatoras previously described or any other resonator that can be modeled usingthe BVD circuit of FIG. 1A. The two-port network 300 is essentially aladder filter with a single series resonator. |S_(2,1)|², which is thetransmission from port 1 to port 2 of the network, will be maximum atthe resonance frequency of X1 and minimum at the anti-resonancefrequency of X1.

While the relationship of the resonance and anti-resonance frequency ofthe resonator X1 in isolation is fixed by the physical characteristic ofthe resonator, this relationship can be modified using passivecomponents external to the resonator. For example, connecting areactance (i.e. a capacitor or inductor) in parallel with a resonatorwill change the anti-resonance frequency relative to the resonancefrequency. In some situations, it may be desirable to change oreliminate the anti-resonance frequency of a resonator with respect toits resonance frequency without modifying the physical characteristicsof the resonator. For example, raising the anti-resonance frequency of aseries resonator in a filter may allow a wider filter bandwidth orbetter attenuation in a stop band above the passband of the filter. Inother situations, it may be desirable to eliminate the anti-resonance ofa resonator entirely.

FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram of another two-port network 350 thatconstitutes a composite resonator including the resonator X1, capacitorsC1 and C2, and inductor L1. In this context a “composite resonator” is acircuit including a resonator and one or more reactive componentsconfigured such that one or both of a resonant frequency and ananti-resonant frequency of the composite resonator is different from theresonant frequency and an anti-resonant frequency of the resonator inisolation. In the two-port network 350, capacitor C1 is connectedbetween one terminal of the resonator X1 and a node identified as the “Tnode”. This node is conveniently termed the “T node” since it isdisposed at the intersection of a “T” shaped circuit formed bycapacitors C1 and C2 and inductor L1. Capacitor C2 is connected betweenthe second terminal of the resonator X1 and the T node. Inductor L1 isconnected between the T node and ground. Capacitors C1 and C2 andinductor L1 form an “inverter” or “impedance inverter” circuit 355 that,for some range of frequencies, has an effect similar to connecting avirtual capacitor with a negative effective capacitance in parallel withresonator X1. The notional negative effective capacitance provided bythe inverter circuit is additive with the static capacitance C₀ of theresonator, thereby effecting the anti-resonance of the compositeresonator.

FIG. 4 is a graph of the transmission through the two-port network 300of FIG. 3A and three example embodiments of the two-port network 350 ofFIG. 3B. The transmission of each two-port network was calculated usinga circuit simulation tool. In all cases, the resonator has a resonantfrequency of 1785 MHz and a static capacitance C₀ of 1 picofarad (pF).The motional capacitance C_(m) is about 0.071 pF, the motionalinductance L_(m) is about 111.3 nanohenries (nH). The static resistanceR₀ is about 0.74 ohms and the motional resistance R_(m) is about 1.04ohms. The other component values for each of the embodiments areprovided in the table below.

Line in C1/C2 L1 FIG. 4 pF nH FIG. 3A 410 — — FIG. 3B Ex. 1 420 1.25 1FIG. 3B Ex. 2 430 1.97 1 FIG. 3B Ex. 3 440 3 1

In FIG. 4, the solid line 410 is a plot of |S_(2,1)|², which is thetransmission through the two-port network 300, which consists of thesingle resonator X1. Transmission is maximum at the resonance frequencyof the resonator (about 1785 MHz). Transmission is minimum at theanti-resonance frequency of the resonator (about 1843 MHz).

Example 1

The dashed line 420 is a plot of |S_(4,3)|², which is the transmissionthrough a first example embodiment of the two-port network 350. In thisexample, the inverter circuit 355 is configured to increaseanti-resonant frequency of the composite resonator by about 25 MHzcompared to the resonator in isolation (line 410).

Example 2

The dot-dash line 430 is a plot of |S_(4,3)|², the transmission for asecond example embodiment of the two-port network 350. In this example,the inverter circuit 355 is configured to provide a larger increase tothe anti-resonant frequency of the composite resonator to a valueoutside of the plotted frequency range. As the anti-resonance of thecomposite resonator is moved to an arbitrarily high frequency, it iseffectively eliminated. The line 430 exhibits a maximum transmission ata frequency about 1810 MHz with nearly symmetrical transmissioncharacteristics to either side of the transmission maximum.

Example 3

The dot-dot-dash line 440 is a plot of |S_(4,3)|², the transmission fora third example embodiment of the network 350. In this example, theinverter circuit 355 is configured to move the anti-resonant frequencyof the composite resonator through infinity to below the resonantfrequency. This results in a transmission minimum at a frequency about1765 MHz, which is below the frequency of the transmission maximum.

The use of an inverter circuit as shown in FIG. 3B allows independentcontrol of the anti-resonance of a composite resonator beyond what issometimes practical using a passive reactance in parallel with theresonator. The use of an inverter circuit to independently control thefrequency of the antiresonance of a resonator is not limited to thepreceding examples and is not limited to the frequency range used forthese examples.

FIG. 5 shows a simplified schematic circuit diagram of an exemplaryband-pass filter circuit 500 incorporating six acoustic wave resonators,labeled X1 through X6, arranged in a “ladder” configuration. The filtercircuit 500 is generally the same as the filter circuit 200 with theaddition of an inverter circuit 510 to provide a negative capacitance inparallel with series resonator X6. An inverter circuit may be connectedto any or both of series resonators X2 and X4 instead of, or in additionto, the inverter circuit 510. A filter incorporating an inverter circuitmay have more or fewer than six resonator and typically include at leastone series resonator connected to the inverter circuit, at least oneadditional series resonator and at least one shunt resonator.

Closing Comments

Throughout this description, the embodiments and examples shown shouldbe considered as exemplars, rather than limitations on the apparatus andprocedures disclosed or claimed. Although many of the examples presentedherein involve specific combinations of method acts or system elements,it should be understood that those acts and those elements may becombined in other ways to accomplish the same objectives. With regard toflowcharts, additional and fewer steps may be taken, and the steps asshown may be combined or further refined to achieve the methodsdescribed herein. Acts, elements and features discussed only inconnection with one embodiment are not intended to be excluded from asimilar role in other embodiments.

As used herein, “plurality” means two or more. As used herein, a “set”of items may include one or more of such items. As used herein, whetherin the written description or the claims, the terms “comprising”,“including”, “carrying”, “having”, “containing”, “involving”, and thelike are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including butnot limited to. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and“consisting essentially of”, respectively, are closed or semi-closedtransitional phrases with respect to claims. Use of ordinal terms suchas “first”, “second”, “third”, etc., in the claims to modify a claimelement does not by itself connote any priority, precedence, or order ofone claim element over another or the temporal order in which acts of amethod are performed, but are used merely as labels to distinguish oneclaim element having a certain name from another element having a samename (but for use of the ordinal term) to distinguish the claimelements. As used herein, “and/or” means that the listed items arealternatives, but the alternatives also include any combination of thelisted items.

It is claimed:
 1. A composite resonator comprising: a resonator,exhibiting a resonance and an anti-resonance, the resonator having afirst terminal and a second terminal; and an inverter circuit connectedin parallel with the resonator, the inverter circuit having a firstterminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal of theresonator is directly connected to the first terminal of the inverter,and wherein the second terminal of the resonator is directly connectedto the second terminal of the inverter.
 2. The composite resonator ofclaim 1, wherein the inverter circuit is configured to set ananti-resonant frequency of the composite resonator to be different froman anti-resonant frequency of the resonator in isolation.
 3. Thecomposite resonator of claim 2, wherein the inverter circuit isconfigured to set the anti-resonant frequency of the composite resonatorto be greater than the anti-resonant frequency of the resonator inisolation.
 4. The composite resonator of claim 2, wherein the invertercircuit is configured to set the anti-resonant frequency of thecomposite resonator to be less than a resonant frequency of theresonator in isolation.
 5. The composite resonator of claim 1, theinverter circuit further comprising: a first capacitor connected betweenthe first terminal of the resonator and a T-node; a second capacitorconnected between the T-node and the second terminal of the resonator;and an inductor connected between the T-node and a ground.
 6. Thecomposite resonator of claim 5, wherein the resonator is an acousticwave resonator.
 7. The composite resonator of claim 6, wherein theresonator is a first series resonator within a ladder filter circuitincluding at least a second series resonator and one or more shuntresonators.
 8. The composite resonator of claim 1, wherein a same thirdvoltage is across both the inverter circuit and the resonator circuit.9. A filter, comprising: a plurality of resonators including a firstseries resonator that exhibits both a resonance and an antiresonance,the first series resonator having a first terminal and a secondterminal; and an inverter circuit connected in parallel with the firstseries resonator, the inverter circuit having a first terminal and asecond terminal, wherein the first terminal of the first seriesresonator has a first same voltage as the first terminal of theinverter, and wherein the second terminal of the first series resonatorhas a same second voltage as the second terminal of the inverter. 10.The filter of claim 9, wherein an anti-resonant frequency of the firstseries resonator in parallel with the inverter circuit is greater thanthe anti-resonant frequency of the first series resonator in isolation.11. The filter of claim 9, wherein an anti-resonant frequency of thefirst series resonator in parallel with the inverter circuit is lessthan the resonant frequency of the first series resonator in isolation.12. The filter of claim 9, the inverter circuit further comprising: afirst capacitor connected between the first terminal of the first seriesresonator and a T-node; a second capacitor connected between the T-nodeand the second terminal of the first series resonator; and an inductorconnected between the T-node and a ground.
 13. The filter of claim 9,wherein all of the plurality of resonators are acoustic wave resonators.14. The filter of claim 13, wherein some of the plurality of resonatorsare shunt resonators.
 15. The filter of claim 9, wherein a same thirdvoltage is across both the inverter circuit and the first seriesresonator circuit.
 16. A band-pass filter, comprising: a plurality ofresonators connected in a ladder filter circuit, the plurality ofresonators including a first series resonator that exhibits both aresonance and an antiresonance and at least one shunt resonator, thefirst series resonator having a first terminal and a second terminal;and an inverter circuit connected in parallel with the first seriesresonator, the inverter circuit having a first terminal and a secondterminal, wherein the first terminal of the first series resonator isdirectly connected to the first terminal of the inverter, and whereinthe second terminal of the first series resonator is directly connectedto the second terminal of the inverter.
 17. The band-pass filter ofclaim 16, the inverter circuit further comprising: a first capacitorconnected between the first terminal of the first series resonator and aT-node; a second capacitor connected between the T-node and the secondterminal of the first series resonator; and an inductor connectedbetween the T-node and a ground.
 18. The band-pass filter of claim 17,wherein all of the plurality of resonators are acoustic wave resonators.19. The band-pass filter of claim 16, wherein an anti-resonant frequencyof the first series resonator in parallel with the inverter circuit isgreater than the anti-resonant frequency of the first series resonatorin isolation.
 20. The band-pass filter of claim 16, wherein ananti-resonant frequency of the first series resonator in parallel withthe inverter circuit is less than the resonant frequency of the firstseries resonator in isolation.
 21. The band-pass filter of claim 16,wherein a same third voltage is across both the inverter circuit and thefirst series resonator circuit.